I want to make a mission for Folk ARPS where do I start?First thing you need to do is download the Folk ARPS mission template. You'll find the FA template further down in this post. Keep reading, comrade!

Actually, I've never made a mission before; are there any tutorials?Yes, there are full illustrated tutorials for making adversarial and cooperative missions using F3. If you're brand new to mission making, you may want to try making these with our template first.

Okay, I know what I'm doing now. Is there a mission naming standard for Folk ARPS missions?A rudimentary one. It consists of: the Folk ARPS prefix, the mission type and playercount, name and version. The prefix for Folk ARPS missions begins fa, after which we add 3 to indicate the mission requires Arma 3. After that we add an underscore. For example:

fa3_

How do we indicate mission type and playercount?After the underscore we add:

c for co-operative missions

cz for co-operative missions that use Zeus

a for adversarial missions

az for adversarial missions that use Zeus

p for 'puppeteer' missions

r for racing/karting missions

Immediately after that we add the maximum number of players and then another underscore. For example:

fa3_c24_

What about the mission name and version?Anything you like for the name, but try to keep it short and use lowercase letters and underscores instead of spaces. After the name we add a final underscore, a lowercase v and then a whole number. For example:

fa3_c24_victory_rose_v3

I'm set. Now, can I make any type of mission?Yes, but remember that the focus at Folk ARPS is on co-operative missions and adversarials designed to last around 30 minutes. Missions like that are most likely to be played.

Do I need to use the Folk ARPS platoon?Please do. Don't feel you have to use all the attachments, but it really helps when we don't have to figure out a new ORBAT with each mission. Some of us are really old and frail, and we get confused easily.

What about changing the loadouts?You can if you want, but please try to avoid scoped rifles beyond a single sniper team (with limited rounds) for adversarial missions. For cooperative missions it's okay to use scopes like the MRCO etc.

Can I use custom addons in my mission?No, please don't. Our main sessions do not use any required addons.

Can I use custom scripts?Yes. Just please be sure to test them thoroughly and to give the original authors credit in the briefing!

Should I just go wild with placing AI?Please don't. High numbers can be very taxing on server perfomance. A rough estimate is that at no point more than 80 AI should be "active" at any given point during the mission. Avoid going above 120-150 AI within 1-2km² in a mission without a pre-set value for caching or utilizing a headless client. Areas with lots of buildings are especially taxing on the AI. A small town should not contain more than 20-30 active AI at once. Talk to a host if in doubt.

Is there a particular style of Folk ARPS mission?In the traditional Folk missions for ArmA 2, the Folk platoon was meant to represent a guerrilla or insurgent force type, operating without high-tech equipment or significant combined arms support. Later, in the (ArmA 2) days of Folk ARPS this evolved and many mission makers added their own flavor to our missions, from 'Soviets in Afghanistan' to 'rogue UN platoon' and 'USMC thrown into the meatgrinder'. For ArmA 3, we welcome a similarly broad range of mission types, but retain our emphasis on infantry.

Does this mean I can submit a mission where everyone has a tank?You can, but it may not feature heavily in our missions rotation (if at all). Remember, you can always discuss your mission ideas with a host for guidance.

Can I get some help testing my mission?Of course! Grab some fellow comrades from Discord or create an event in the forum, the server can be accessed 24/7.

I've heard the party is fond of short and poignant lists; does such check-list exist for mission testing?Most certainly comrade mission maker! Did you know that statistics show that comrades who adhere to this list are 85% less likely to be purged?

Does mission adhere to the mission naming standard?

Is the given number of player slots correct?

Are the numbers of AI and other objects within the set standards? See further above for an estimation of a good AI-count.

Have vehicles and other 'toys' been tweaked to fit our play-style? Examples include:

Disabling thermals on vehicles for adversarial missions.

Locking complex enemy weapon systems (tanks, helicopters) so they cannot be used by players.

The FA mission template has been updated to F3 3-2-2 (soon to be released) and WS Fnc (17/01/2015)

This F3 3-2-2 update includes mostly smaller fixes and a nifty new component to easily equip AI with F3 gear. It also fixes a rather significant bug in the caching system which would sometimes not disable units properly, hampering it effectiveness.

Updating older missionsThe easiest and safest method is to copy your mission.sqm and relevant briefing_faction.sqf files from your old mission into a fresh download of the FA template, then to adjust your init.sqf and description.ext as you need to.

Alternatively, you can use a tool such as WinMerge to compare your older mission with a fresh download of the template to update each file individually.